Hearing bells
by TheDuckOfNom4
Summary: Gan Ning has been troubled ever since he crossed blades with a mysterious Shu girl. The fact that it led to him being in a very misunderstood situation and that there are rumors within the Wu army that he lost to a girl didn't help. Will Gan Ning fight to regain his reputation of not losing to anybody, or will something even more trifling bloom from it? Gan Ning/OC (M for future)
1. Introduction- the mysterious Shu girl

Hearing bells 

Gan Ning snarled to himself and rested his chin in his palm, a livid scowl spread across his face. From his place on the boulder, he could see the rest of the troops resting and eating their lunches, smiles on their lips and their drives high. This just annoyed Gan Ning even more. Jumping up onto his feet, he sent a glare their way before barking out orders for them to get back to preparing to leave for the palace once more. They'd had success in the battle beforehand with Shu, with the whole deal with the Shu Commander and the princess thing, and had hardly lost any men. Except that wasn't the reason for Gan Ning's sour mood.

"Hey, Gan Ning, why the long face?"

He turned his bitter face towards Lu Meng and his gaze only hardened before he sneered brutishly and turned back to roaring at the troops who were not even five minutes into their break. Usually they'd get about fifteen to twenty minutes. But Gan Ning would be the judge of that on that fine spring afternoon.

"Whoa, what's got him so peeved?"

The ex-pirate's eyes narrowed when he heard Ling Tong's musing voice. His happiness decayed further when he heard Lu Meng mention THAT person.

"I think it has something to do with that Shu girl. She didn't half beat him to hell."

Gan Ning whirled around to face them and gave them to filthiest look he could conjure up.

"She didn't 'beat me to hell' and you know it, old man! She was injured, after all! A-and you just came at the wrong moment! One minute before-hand and it would have been the opposite of what _you _thought had happened!" He spat spitefully. Silence. Lu Meng and Ling Tong studied the vexed look on his face for a moment before they both began to howl out laughter and clutch their sides.

"I-I was joking, Kid. I-I didn't realise she actually g-got to ya- HAHAHA!"

Tears were almost streaming down their faces and a few of the men turned their heads to look at what was going on, smiles beginning to twitch onto their faces at the sudden mood improvement. Ling Tong clutched Lu Meng's shoulder as he bent over, gripping his stomach which contracted violently as he laughed.

Gan Ning huffed and kicked a stone like a six year old that had just been rebuked for stealing coins out of their father's money pouch to buy sweets before stalking off the opposite direction and walked until he could no longer hear the head ache producing laughter.

_Gan Ning smirked when a chestnut steed rode by and a figure jumped off, landing a few metres in front of him on their feet._

_He raised a brow when he observed his opponent to be._

"_YOU'RE going to fight me? By yourself..?"_

_The girl gripped her (what looked to be) manriki chains in a tight fist and sent him a bold glare._

"_Do not underestimate me!"_

_He rolled his eyes and scoffed. Her voice was high and delicate. She must have been in her early double digits, sixteen or seventeen maybe? He wasn't really sure. Well, by what he saw it must have been true. Whilst she had few curves, she wasn't really much to look at. She was wearing a silky green tunic with matching black trousers. Well, he couldn't think of the name for them. But they ended and her scrawny little knees. His eyes travelled to her feet and took notice of how small they were. Compared to his, that is. She was wearing regular slip on sandals that made her feet look dainty and feeble. She really was quite puny. _

_He had to hold in a laugh. She looked like a peasant. Her hair was probably the only thing interesting about her. Whilst the rest of her was boring and tiresome, her hair swished around behind her in a long gleaming raven braid. It travelled past her rear, which he took his time to observe despite his complaining about her looks, and ended at the behind of her thigh. _

"_Are you going to fight me or just stare at me, you imbecile?!" _

_He didn't hear what she said but was too busy raking his eyes up and down her body. He had to admit, whilst there wasn't much of her and what was there was pretty plain and uninteresting, she was cute. He smirked to himself. And who knew? Maybe when she grew a little, she'd actually grow a proper set of-_

_Gan Ning was cut out of his thoughts when a painful force collided with his temple. He stumbled back and held his head, feeling it throb._

"_What the..?"_

"_HAH!"_

_The girl let out battle cries as she repeatedly and, might he add, quite rapidly continued to clobber him with a manriki chain in each hand. Jeez, she didn't even give him time to grab his daggers._

_His arms pounded and ached from blocking her attacks and he swore to himself. He probably should have kept his eyes focused on beating her instead of screwing her._

"_Surrender and I'll-I'll spare you!"_

_Hang on. What?_

"_What?"_

_The girl panted heavily and sweat trickled down the sides of her face. Her lids looked heavy on top of her dark eyes all of a sudden and she began to slump, her hands quivering from the weight of the chains. He smirked. She was getting tired._

_This was his chance to change the tides of that little spat. _

"_Y-you heard me…"_

_Gan Ning held his arms up again to block her attacks but they were nowhere near as hard as they were before. 'Wow, this girl is pitiful'. He watched as her swings slackened and her arms began to shake from the weight of her weapons. Even though to him, they probably wouldn't weigh a thing. Why'd she keep attacking him? His eyes never broke with hers. But as hers grew weak, his just grew empty. She was fighting for something. He didn't know what, but it must have been important._

_That's when she collapsed at his feet. All he could do was stare down at her as her body heaved for air._

"_H-hey-"_

"_Shut up!"_

_Just then, he noticed a tear in her clothing near her waist and a dark purple patch residing on her lower back as she curled on the mossy ground slightly to catch her breath. His eye brow rose. Well, he was at least relieved that he could maybe blame her weakness being because she was injured and not because she was pathetic. But he didn't know what to do. Should he kill her? Help her? - No. That was out of the question. She was the enemy. He'd be better off killing her. Then again, she was only young… oh, hell. When has that ever mattered to him? He'd killed hundreds, a few even being children. But that was back in his pirate days. But he shouldn't hold that against himself. _

_He sighed._

"_Look, I'll help you."_

_He bent down to help her up, but she quickly stood, stumbling slightly and raised her manriki chains above her head._

"_GAN NING, THE BATTLE'S ENDED! LET'S GO!"_

_Gan Ning blocked the chains and turned to look at Lu Meng who stared from the hill in bewilderment before smirking._

"_Well, well, well. Never thought I'd ever see the day when Gan Ning was down on his knees in front of a child. A __**female **_child_**, **__to be more exact."_

_Gan Ning looked from him and back to the girl and then back at him when panic arose to his features._

"_W-wait, this isn't what it looks like…"_

"_YUAN!"_

_The girl feebly turned her head with clouded eyes at the voice as her arms shook and she began to fall. He immediately tore into a sprint towards her._

"_Guan ping…"_

Gan Ning huffed once more and plonked down onto the ground near a stream and rested his beck against a rock. His face twisted when he rested his arms and examined them.Dark plum bruises aligned along his forearm and he winced. She had strength. He snorted smugly. 'For like, two minutes.' He thought to himself and let out a cruel chuckle. A cold breeze danced past him and caused the bells attached to his belt to let out light hearted whistles and jingles. He breathed in the fresh air and lolled his head back into the rock, closing his eyes.

He wondered if the girl was coping with her injury. It looked pretty deep. And she'd lost a lot of blood. Immediately after these thoughts, he shook his head and scowled at a close by tree instead.

He shouldn't think like that. Who was he to care whether the wench lived or died? She was the one foolish enough to attack him on her own accord without seeking out help for her wounds. If anything, she deserved to die. It would teach her for being stupid. Then again, who was he to say things like that? He was exactly the same, wasn't he? His scowl settled and he sighed. They probably had a lot in common.

Maybe he should have captured her. While she wasn't as deadly as she thought she was and she wasn't stunningly beautiful, his lord sure would appreciate that kind of determination in his ranks. Gan Ning thoughtfully held his chin and stared up at the sky in thought, nose crinkled. Maybe next time he should try and persuade her to join him. She was a spritely little girl, that's for sure. And he could probably encourage her to buy some new clothes, more flattering weapons, and to maybe apply some make up. The corners of his lips twisted into a sly smirk.

Yeah… red would definitely suit her. Maybe he could convince her to wear a slinky, sexy little number for him. JUST him.

He once again shook his head and muttered profanities. Why did he have his head in the gutter so much lately..?

Jumping up, he inhaled deeply and swivelled on the balls of his boots, rolling his head and rubbing his shoulder and marched back to the men, allowing them rest again for a few minutes before they headed back to the palace.

Lu Xun walked into the bar and sighed, a cross expression clear on his face. He should have expected his colleagues to be here. Lu Meng, Ling Tong and Gan Ning were all sat at a table with endless gourds of rice wince before them. However, as he got close enough, he noticed Gan Ning the one hurriedly drinking most of the wine with a flushed expression. Just how long had they been here? He sighed and pulled up a chair to sit with them. Lu Meng smiled at him and raised his cup.

"Lu Xun, nice of you to join us, my friend! How are the strategies coming along for the next battle at Yi Ling?"

Ling Tong also smiled lopsidedly, the alcohol obviously taking effect. Lu Xun simply stared at Gan Ning who was cradling his head and muttering about something under his breath whilst taking another swig of his beverage before his eyes dragged back over to Lu Meng and Ling Tong who grinned at Gan Ning's behaviour.

"Oh, don't mind him. He's just stressed out because he's having woman problems."

Ling Tong nudged Gan Ning who slammed his hand down on the table and almost fell out of his chair before Lu Meng caught him.  
"I t-told you," Gan Ning flushed bright red from anger, "There's no freakin' woman problems! It doesn't count if she's a Shu wench! A-and she's like *hic* 11… 12…6… man, I don't know…" before falling onto the table and slamming his head down on it. Lu Meng grabbed his shoulder and tried to pull him up but he wouldn't move. Lu Xun raised an eyebrow at the situation.

"How long has he been here..?"

He helped Lu Meng pick Gan Ning up off of the table and sat him back in his chair, him rolling his head back and letting out small snores as his eyes drifted closed. Lu Meng scratched the back of his head.

"Hmm… I'm not so sure… he was here when we got in and the maid said that he'd already had over the average amount."

Ling Tong snorted and sipped his rice wine shot.

"What a dunce. Why'd he go and do that?"

Lu Meng sighed and looked at the unconscious Gan Ning whose arms crossed over his chest while his legs were sprawled out in front of him like a ragdoll.

"I'm not sure… but I think it had something to do with his previous battle opponent, the Shu girl."

The Wu strategist raised a curious eyebrow.

"A girl? Which one?"

Lu Meng pondered to himself, ignoring the stares that they were all getting from the ruckus created beforehand.

"I didn't recognize the child. She must have been a new recruit. She was no older than sixteen, by the looks of it."

Their attentions turned back to Gan Ning when he snorted and poured another shot.

"You can say that again. The kid didn't have any assets to speak of at all. *Hic*could've confused her for a boy, if you ask me." His hiccup was obviously over riding the 'you' in his drunken statement, but the rest of them didn't really care. Lu Meng gave Lu Xun a stare which he understood immediately and five minutes later, Ling Tong was left all by himself with the cheque, muttering curses.

Mei Yuan awoke and her hazy eyes blinked slowly before they searched the tent sluggishly for an explanation.

"Ah, I see you are finally awake, Mei Yuan."

She sat up immediately at her lord's voice but gasped at a shrill pain in her lower areas and was encouraged to lay back down of by a medic.

"I apologize, my lord, that I cannot stand and give you a p-proper greeting…"

Her voice was strained and cracked at numerous occasions during her sentence. Liu Bei laughed wholeheartedly and waved a hand.

"Yuan, you have no need to do this considering your current position. I just came to check on you."

Mei Yuan looked worried before she looked away for a moment and then at the canopy of the tent. She felt ashamed. She had never wanted to worry her lord like this, but she was reckless and it had happened anyway.

"I'm sorry…"

Liu Bei sighed and walked over to her, sweeping some loose raven hair from her messed parting out of her eyes. He sighed. The girl was always too hard on herself. He'd come to find that just after recruiting her. He had to stop himself from smiling; when she'd disguised herself as a young boy just to be recruited. She'd always bow to him, apologizing when she thought she did something he didn't like and cast her eyes downwards in his presence in fear of disrespecting him. He had no idea why. Yue Ying had mentioned that the girl just had a lot of respect for him. He furrowed his eye brows. It was something more. It had to be. People showed him respect every day, they would give him gifts and money, merchants would offer him free fruit, the people would move out of the way for him on the street.

However, this girl… It was as though she was… afraid of him?

"Yuan, you fought bravely for me and for that I am thankful. There is no need for you to be remorseful. I am proud of you."

Mei Yuan's olive cheeks reddened once he'd said this and her eyes began to well up with tears. He withdrew his hand as if he'd been scorched with hot water and he stared at her with large eyes.

"I'm sorry; did you take offense by my words?"

Mei Yuan stared at him incredulously for a second before shaking her head and looking away.  
"No, it's not that. I-I am just happy to hear such gracious things from my lord. But I swear on my life that next time, I will not worry you."

Her voice was sharp but he could still tell that she was trying to hide her pain from him. He sighed and shook his head.  
"Yuan, it is though you mistake me for something other than a man. It is my nature to worry for those I care for."

She snapped her head back to him and stared wide eyed; whilst on the inside groaning in pain at the intense whiplash she just experienced, and didn't bother to hide the pink that adorned her cheeks once more. Liu Bei smiled at her before parting the tent curtains and stepping out. She could faintly hear him begin to socialize with Zhang Fei. Mei Yuan couldn't believe it. 'H-he cares about me..?' Her dark amber eyes never left the tent entrance for about five minutes before turning to the maid who was washing some bandages in a water basin. She was humming a tune gently and smiling to herself.

Mei Yuan's eyes softened. The woman was probably thinking about a lover. A sad smile lifted onto Yuan's features.

'If only I had someone to make me happy just like that…'


	2. Chapter two- Mei Yuan

"If we attack from the cliffs to the South of the battlefield, a large number of their supplies will be wiped out. We will use this to our advantage and attack the armouries and guard bases after. Their morale would have decreased and they will be easy prey." Lu Xun smiled and averted his gaze from the map to Sun Quan who nodded approvingly. Lu Meng, Ling Tong, Gan Ning, Lady Sun Shang Xiang and Lian Shi were all sat in different places inside the room, some more interested in what was going on than others. Gan Ning, being a perfect example of not listening at all and focusing on a particular incident with a particular girl and Ling Tong glaring holes into his head for his own reasons (Mostly about his father's premature death and what not.) Lu Meng was listening intently to what was happening as well as Lian Shi and Sun Shan Xiang.

"Well done, Lu Xun. That plan is sure to be fool proof." Lu Xun bowed to his lord and smiled, showing his gratitude. Gan Ning scowled at the wall and shifted in his seat, resting his chin on his palm. He was annoyed. No, he was _really _annoyed. The whole situation with that stupid girl had been blown way out of proportion. Lu Meng wouldn't even listen to him when he tried to speak the truth. And worst of all, the rumour had got around the Wu army as well. Every corner he turned, a low ranking officer would sneer through their disgustingly unkempt teeth at him and whisper to their accomplice about the stupid misunderstanding. And to tell the truth, Gan Ning was fed up. He would just have to prove himself in the next battle with Shu. Gan Ning suddenly lifted his head at the idea and a small smirk aligned his lips. _Yeah, that's what I'll do. All I have to do is win a fight with that girl with the rest of the troops watching. I'll just lure her out and BAM! She won't know what hit her!_

After that thought, his smirk vanished and his eyes bore into the nearest thing that he saw, which he didn't realize happened to be Sun Shang Xiang. He didn't know what that dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach was. The thought of harming the young girl unsettled him for a strange reason… His smouldering gaze returned and he still didn't acknowledge that he just so happened to be staring at Sun Shang Xiang who took quick notice of his, what she thought was attention to her and narrowed her eyes with a deep blush spreading across her cheeks. Why was the officer staring at her like that? She had just rejected her Fiancé, Lord Liu Bei and was having to battle against him. She wasn't ready for anything soon, so why was he looking at her? Her pupils became dilated and she sighed, staring at Gan Ning back. She hadn't ever really paid much attention to him before, but he was quite handsome…In a strange and… Brutish way…

Gan Ning realized that he was staring at her and quickly shook his head and gave her a lopsided grin. Ah…forbidden fruit, the princess. It was a shame that she had to fight against her lover. He really felt for her. Actually, who was he kidding? He didn't feel a thing. He was an ex-pirate, how could he feel empathy for such a stupid emotion like love? Sun Shang Xiang gasped a bit when he gave her the grin and scowled at him. What was she thinking? She must have just been feeling depraved.

"Gan Ning, what do you feel about this?" Lu Xun directed his attention to Gan Ning who snapped his head in his direction and scoffed.

"What?"

Lu Xun sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Ning, you're going have to pay attention more if you want this battle to be a success."

Gan Ning narrowed his eyes at the young strategist and let out a small snigger.

"You just sit back and let me do my own thing." He grinned and Lu Xun could do nothing but sigh again. Lu Meng scowled at the young, former pirate. Gan Ning really was an idiot.

"Fine, fine! Just do not let us down!"

Gan Ning smirked and got up, rubbing his shoulders and rolling his head about before striding out of the room. Sun Shang Xiang rolled her eyes at the reckless man. Again, what the hell was she thinking..?

Mei Yuan looked around the battle field and then down at her weapons. The Manriki chains…

Oh how she hated them. Her hands had gone numb from holding the cold, heavy metal already. She frowned and sighed, looking around again. Oh, how she wished she could just be a messenger again. She wasn't cut out for this!

Surrounding her were the troops from both sides clashing swords. And on the floor were bodies of souls that had once loved and lived. They were nothing but empty shells from then onward. Their souls had probably already departed to the afterlife. If anyone were gracious enough, they would have placed money on their person to afford to move on. Mei Yuan sighed. It would be a shame if the lost souls were doomed to forever haunt the battlefields. It certainly wasn't the way she would want to go.

"Mei Yuan!"

Her long plait whipped around as she did and she let out a soft smile.

"Guan Ping, I thought you were positioned in the North..?" Mei Yuan cocked her head up at him, swinging her chains back and forth. His horse whinnied, causing her to smile and stretch out a hand to rub its nose. The snout felt almost rubbery as the warm breath dampened her hand. Gan Ning smiled down at her. The battle had started barely an hour before hand and he was already distressing for her.

"Yeah, I know. But I was kind of um… worried about you. So I asked father to transfer me to the east, with you." He awkwardly laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. Mei Yuan laughed slightly and nuzzled her face into the horses', causing it to snort.

"Thank you Ping, but I'm fine. You didn't have to do that for me."

She'd known Guan Ping for at least two years, ever since she'd joined the army disguised as a boy. She felt embarrassed just thinking about it. A year after when she was promoted to a messenger was when she was discovered. She was immediately sent to her lord who just laughed and ruffled her hair. He hadn't sent her home to her small farming village but had in fact praised her for her courage. He told her he wouldn't send her home because he valued her speed and loyalty. He had expressed so fondly how she was a virtue. She was assigned her post and spent most of her free time with Guan Ping and Xing Cai. They had been kind to her and had defended her when a few other troops picked on her because she was a girl, a young one at that.

"It's fine, Yuan. I want to make sure you're well during this battle."

Mei Yuan smiled and turned to observe her surroundings.

Gan Ning growled and directed his horse left. There was no sign of her.

Well, that completely screwed up his plans. What was he to do now? Just be ridiculed for the rest of his life? No. He wouldn't allow that. Even if she was dead, he'd haul up her dead body and carry it back with him, claiming he had killed her.

He scanned his eyes over the horizon and saw something very promising. It was the kid who came to take her away the last time. With fire in his eyes, he kicked the horse into canter and raced towards him, drawing his dagger. The kid's horse let a snort and became restless as Gan Ning approached at an increasing speed. Guan Ping took notice of Gan Ning and glared at him, unsheathing his weapon. Gan Ning pulled up beside him viciously, making both horses squeal in danger.

"Where is she?!"

Guan Ping's eyes filled with confusion. What was the man talking about? Gan Ning rolled his eyes and looked at the ground. Slowly but surely, his pressed lips upturned into a smirk.

Mei Yuan stood there in fright.

She reached for her Manriki chains but shook her head. They would be little to no help in that situation. Her only option was to run.

Gan Ning dismounted and went to reach for her but was stopped by the other kid's horse getting in his way. He sent him an angry glare and grabbed him, dragging him to the floor whilst his foot was stuck in the stirrup.

"Don't get in my way or you're next!" He roared, running around the horse, but he was too late. The girl had gone.

"Shit!"

Getting back on his horse, he dodged a soldier's halberd and cut him down before kicking his horse into canter once more.

Enemy troops from all around attempted to run after him, but it was no use. He was on a mission and wouldn't stop for anyone or anything. He even passed Ling tong who tried to shout to him to lend a hand, but let out a frustrated scream when he rode away.

Mei Yuan panted heavily as she ran with all her speed. Why was that man after her? Had she done him wrong?

Well, he was the enemy, but that didn't explain why he was so persistent in routing her! He should have given up by now! As she turned her head, she saw his horse hot on her tail and she panicked.

She may have been fast, but she couldn't run forever! Her only hope was to get to a base and quick. But if she stopped to analyse where she was, she'd be as good as dead. The sun was setting and that would indicate that the battle was almost over. She just needed to find a base and she'd be alright.

Her expression paled when she spotted the cliff ahead of her. It was a dead end, for sure. Skidding to a halt, she peeked over the edge. No water.

Glaring over her shoulder, she spotted the man over her shoulder, dismounting his horse. She inhaled slowly. That was it. She'd tried and failed. Stumbling back to her feet, she gripped her chains in each hand and prepared to put up one last fight but was shocked with what came out of his mouth.

"Join Wu."

…

….

Time seemed to stand still for a moment and even Gan Ning couldn't believe what he'd just said. For at least five minutes, they just stared at each other. The loud noises of battle a while away being the only noises before the young girl shook her head with closed eyes.

"Wait… What?"

Gan Ning took a step forward, pausing when she held her weapon in front of her in self-defence. Gan Ning wondered what he was doing. He was supposed to hate this girl and now he was trying to make her _defect _to Wu? What had happened to replenishing his reputation as an unbeatable former pirate?

"You heard me. Join Wu. Much nicer than Shu, and I'll even throw in a free horse and Lieutenant."

Okay, _WHAT? _What was he THINKING? He can't even decide those things!

Mei Yuan's mouth gaped open and her eyes narrowed. Was he trying to BRIBEher to join his side?! Unbelievable!

"What?! NO! I won't betray Shu just for a free horse!"

Gan Ning dead panned. He probably should have worded that better. Actually, he shouldn't have worded it at all.

"Look, listen. You've got skills and Wu could use 'em. All I'm saying is that we would use you better."

This seemed to make her angrier. Gan Ning mentally kicked himself.

"_Use _me?! Are you crazy? I'm leaving. I have better things to be doing with my time instead of wasting it with some creep who's persistent in giving me a free horse. Good bye!"

As she attempted to storm past Gan Ning, he grabbed her elbow with rough hands.

"You don't have a choice." He growled.

Okay, so Gan Ning's plans had gone to a complete shit store. Instead of kicking the girl's ass, he'd done the complete opposite and practically begged her to join him.

Mei Yuan struggled but the man wouldn't let go.

"Let me go, pervert!"

Gan Ning stopped. Pervert? He'd never been called that before.

"Sweetheart, trust me, with a shortage of chest like that I wouldn't even give you the time of day."

"Then why are you so persistent on forcing me to defect?"

_Shit._

"It was uh… an order. Yeah, an order."

Mei Yuan finally ripped herself free and was about to run away, but was shocked to find herself hauled up into the air and over the robust man's shoulder. Letting out a scream of protest, she began banging her fist on his back.

Gan Ning narrowed his eyes at nothing imparticular when he felt her banging her fists against his back. It was weak because he had his armour on, but it was still irritating. Mounting his horse, he held her with one arm and grabbed the reins with the other, leading the chestnut steed away from the cliff and back across the battlefield. Many soldiers stopped to observe the bizarre sight that passed them and gave questioning glances to the opposite side. Ling Tong, who had recently joined up with Lu Meng stopped fighting and nudged the older man to see Gan Ning trot past bearing a prideful smirk and an angry girl screaming over his shoulder. Both Lu Meng and Ling Tong stared at each other as if searching for the answer to the questionable situation that just passed them by but shrugged and continued fighting.

Guan Ping let out a cry as he stabbed his halberd through a soldier and turned around, searching for his next opponent but froze as he saw the man from earlier smirking his way across the battlefield on top of his horse. But as he looked closer, he saw what could only be described as a very familiar… butt…on his shoulder. Guan Ping just stood still for a moment but sprang into a sprint when he grasped whose butt it belonged to. Mei Yuan screamed for Guan Ping but the ghastly man who was holding her kicked his horse to quicken the pace. Guan Ping slowed and bent over, catching his breath. When he stood again, they were just too far away.

"I'LL RETRIEVE YOU, MEI YUAN. IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO. I WILL FIND YOU." He bellowed at the top of his lungs. He panted and turned on his heel. He had to find his father and spread the news of her capture.

Mei Yuan bounced up and down on the shoulder she was rested upon and let out small gasps each time. Why did her capturer have to have shoulder armour on? She was skinny and it hurt every time it hit her hip.

"Mei Yuan, eh? That's a pretty name."

Mei Yuan growled and punched his back again, only to let out a hiss of pain.

"Shut up and let me go already!"

Gan Ning never replied and just focused on getting back to main camp. The whole way there, he couldn't help but grin. The feeling of victory pumped through his veins heavily and for some reason a somewhat… aroused feeling stirred in his groin. He cast his eyes downwards only to narrow them at the bulge in his lap. Well, that certainly popped up out of nowhere. Shaking his head, he concluded that it was probably just the primal thrill of capturing the girl. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.

After about half an hour, they arrived back at main camp and the skies had grown dark. Gan Ning was thrilled to say that his excitement had calmed and wouldn't be drawing any attention to him. As he passed through the gates, he got many inquisitive stares. Well, who wouldn't get some curious looks if they turned up from battle without a scratch, grinning their head off, carrying a young girl over their shoulder? Especially if they turned up from battle without a scratch, grinning their head off, carrying a young girl over their shoulder AND they just so happened to be Gan Ning, the rough and tumble ex pirate.

As he jumped off of his steed, he heard the girl stir and grumble about how rough he was being with her. At that small murmur near his ear, he couldn't help but regain some of his excitement. Well, who wouldn't? No matter how plain she was, she was still a female. And who knew? When she aged a bit, she might grow some curves.

Throwing her down on the floor face first, he snatched some rope off of a hay bale and tied her hands. Mei Yuan struggled and growled as she felt him binding her small hands together. The journey there was hell for her and she felt like the shoulder armour he had been wearing had grinded her hip bone until it was nothing but dust.

When he brought her to sit against a small hut, she glared at him, her words dripping with venom.

"How _dare _you. I am NOT just some toy that you can throw around carelessly!"

Gan Ning snorted and tied up his horse, turning his back on the raven haired oriental girl.

"You seem to forget that at the moment, you're a captive, not to mention MY captive." He turned back around and laughed at her angry expression. He called over three soldiers and a lieutenant to watch over her, his voice almost growling as they stood shaking in their boots.

"Don't let her escape. If she does, I'll have your heads."

The four of them nodded eagerly and Gan Ning ran a calloused hand through his dirty, brittle hair before walking off in a different direction. Mei Yuan's eyes never left him as she scowled after him. She established instantly that she hated the man. Although, she couldn't help but wonder if it was really an order from a higher up officer to capture her. What would they want with her? And surely, if it were an order then he would take better care of her, unless he's just that rude to everybody, which she could believe.

Mei Yuan scoffed and stared at the floor. What now?

"Well, well. Look what we have here."

Mei Yuan's head snapped up and she stared at the two men who had appeared almost out of nowhere. One was an older gentleman with rugged features and the other seemed fairly young with a smug expression.

Mei Yuan kept quiet.

"You must be the one that's been causing Gan Ning some trouble." The older one spoke, his voice raspy and amused. The other one snapped his stare to the other and his mouth gaped open in bafflement.

Ling Tong stared at the feeble little girl incredulously. That was what Lu Meng had been speaking about for the past week?! It had to be a joke! The kid was barely sixteen!

"THIS _kid _is the girl?! I at least thought the woman you were on about was a bit… well, older."

The older one laughed and patted the younger one's shoulder who just stared down at Mei Yuan, who sat there wondering what they were talking about. Okay, so Gan Ning was his name. She understood that much. But when and where had she caused this _Gan Ning _trouble?! She'd only fought him once and she didn't even hurt him! Her blows were weak, she remembered ambiguously. And she was fifteen for sure, but she wasn't two! She was old enough to be in the army!

"What are you talking about? I haven't caused anyone trouble…" She didn't mean to, but her voice was far softer than usual and both men stopped laughing about something to look down at her.

"Eh, don't worry about it. We were just joking around." The youngest one rubbed the back of his neck and awkwardly grinned at her. Mei Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Then why did you say it?"

The younger man's smile faltered and he began to stutter out words. The elder one smirked and patted his back, guiding him away from her.

"Causing trouble, eh?"

Mei Yuan heard Gan Ning and looked away, glaring at the closest thing she could see.

"Awh, c'mon, don't be like that."

Again, no reply.

Gan Ning just sighed and sat near her. She felt him near her and scooted away from him, closing her eyes in irritation. She just wanted to go home. And what she meant by home was the Shu army. She missed Guan Ping and Xing Cai. And she felt treacherous to her lord.

"Gan Ning, the battle was fruitful for you, I hope?"

Gan Ning looked up to see Lu Xun and Sun Quan walking over to him. He just nodded once and averted his gaze else wear.

"And who is your little friend? Lu Meng told me you plucked her from the Shu army. Is this true?"

Sun Quan gave the girl a gentle smile and looked back at Gan Ning whose eyes slanted in irritation.

"Yeah, she's a good officer. I thought you might wanna use her or somethin' like that." The last part was said under his breath and Sun Quan just laughed and requested he walked with him.

Ling Tong felt an almost miniscule amount of heat rise to his cheeks at the sight of the small girl before him. He didn't know what it was about her. Maybe it was the fact that she was the epitome of innocence. Or maybe it was the fact that she was the epitome of innocence _and _just so happened to be rendered helpless by the ropes. But whatever it was tugged something within him. He didn't really take much notice of the feelings that swelled up when she'd made a snarky remark. It sort of happened subconsciously and he'd just forget about them in a brief second. But they were still there inside all the same.

Mei Yuan didn't know whether to ask for their names or not. She wasn't exactly planning on staying for long. In fact, the first opportunity she got, she was going to run. But it would be rude if she didn't. Mei Yuan narrowed her eyes at her thoughts. They were the enemy. Why would she care if she were polite or not..? But…If she knew their names, then she could have vengeance later on. She shook her head. No. That's not who she was raised to be. And it wasn't even them who captured her. It was the dreadful Gan Ning who she should be angry at.

His grinning face flashed through her mind, causing her to blush slightly. Why did he want her anyway? He said it was for his lord, but by the sounds of it, his lord wasn't even expecting her..!

She paled. Maybe he wanted to rape her… No. She shouldn't think like that. She was only worrying herself. But it was still something to be wary of. She didn't know what his true intentions were. So they could be anything.

Sun Quan nodded to Gan Ning to sit beside him on the stone bench. The skies had been painted black for the night and the cherry blossoms were in bloom. It was quite an image. If Gan Ning wasn't such a man, he would have probably appreciated the scenery. Gan Ning sneered at the thought before taking Sun Quan's offer and sitting beside him.

Sun Quan gave Gan Ning a knowing look before smiling and turning away.

"Ning, I appreciate your enthusiasm to boost the troop figures, but May I ask what your true agenda is."

Gan Ning snapped his head to his Lord before raising an eyebrow.

"What?" His voice was high pitched and disbelieving. Sun Quan laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Do not take this the wrong way, Ning, but you're not really the person on whom I believe to be most eager when it comes to fighting alongside new recruits. What was I supposed to think?"

Gan Ning just stared at him.

"What… Were you thinking..?"

Gan Ning didn't really know what his Lord was getting to, but it seemed like he was hinting something.

"I'm thinking that the only true reason you forced that girl to defect is because you may think fondly towards her-"

"NO."

Sun Quan raised an eyebrow at his officer who glared at him in return.

"That's not true at all!"

Sun Quan sighed and shook his head.

"Ning-"

"No. You heard what the old man was telling people. And I couldn't let that sully my reputation. I had a score to settle with her! To prove people wrong!"

Sun Quan thought for a moment before smiling again and standing up, walking away.

"Goodbye Ning. I hope you can learn to face your feelings in the end."

And just like that, he was gone. Gan Ning let out a growl and tugged at his hair.

Things were really starting to get complicated.


	3. Chapter three- Escape!

Mei Yuan turned to see her tormentor scowling at her. Gan Ning sat next to Ling Tong at the bottom of a grassy hill just outside of the training grounds. Atop the hill was a cherry tree orchid with bared branches. The time of their blooming had come and gone already. She blushed with a slightly irked look on her face and quickly whipped her head back around to face Sun Quan, the leader of the Wu army who continued showing her around the training district. Soldiers that they passed stopped sparring with each other and attacking straw dummies to watch with curiosity as the young girl (whom at first they assumed was a boy) looked about with about as much interest as a toddler getting a scholarship.

A cool summer's breeze rolled by passed the ravenette and her hand instantly went up to control her shabby fringe. The bangs swayed through the gaps between each nimble finger on her small hand and waved at the soldiers who smiled goofily at the majestic sight.

Gan Ning growled and averted his gaze from young, Mei Yuan. Resting his elbow on his muscular leg, he then proceeded to rest his chin on his firm fist. Ling Tong happily chewed on a rice ball, leaning back into the grass in an easy going posture. Ling Tong loved the texture of the cool rice in his mouth. It was soft but refreshing and felt as if he were eating solidified water. As Mei Yuan turned to face him, he grinned at her, a light pink dusting his cheeks. Little did he know, a small grain of rice was stuck to his lower lip and Mei Yuan could help but let out a little smile, something she hadn't done in a while.

Ling Tong stared in amazement at this small gesture and Gan Ning also noticed the tiny, sincere twitch of the lips she averted in his direction. Gan Ning looked to his side at Ling Tong and immediately was filled with rage. Why was she smiling at _him?! _

Ling Tong hissed in pain when a force collided with his arm, wiping the smile off of his face.

He turned to glare at Gan Ning who gave him an equally dirty look back.

"What was that for, you idiot!" The young man seethed through clenched teeth as Gan Ning stood up and pointed a finger at him but just after doing so, he realized that he didn't actually know the reason why he did it. He actually didn't know what to say.

"Uh… You had rice on your lip."

And for about five minutes, all was silent as Ling Tong wiped his lip, stood up, back handed Gan Ning… and walked off in the opposite direction.

~O~O~O~O~O~

"And this is the bar where you can purchase drinks if you feel like relaxing a little bit after a long day. I can't really imagine you being the drinking type though, Yuan."

Mei Yuan shook her head at Sun Quan. After doing so, she thought for a moment. She'd never actually tasted alcohol before. Her parents were too poor to afford any sort of alcoholic beverage such as rice wine and spent all of their money on resources. They were labourers and spent every day from dawn until dusk working their hands to dust. It was probably not the most tasteful way of living but it paid for food at least.

"Another gourd of rice wine!" A gruff voice slurred. Mei Yuan looked in the direction of the voice and found probably her _least _favourite person in the world sat at a table completely off his ass drunk. Upon seeing the young girl, Gan Ning grunted and downed another shot glass, never taking his hazy eyes off of her. What was her problem?

"What?" He growled after wiping his mouth with his arm. Mei Yuan glowered and crossed her arms over her small chest, a red hue to her face with both anger and embarrassment at being caught staring in such an impolite way.

"Nothing." She murmured. Gan Ning grimaced angrily and stood quickly but unstably, knocking into a maid who passed by without even caring. Gan Ning made his way over to Mei Yuan and grabbed her by her miniscule waist. Mei Yuan was about to protest when as Gan Ning went to drag her out, probably to pick a fight with her outside; he tripped over a shot glass that coincidentally had fallen off of the maid's tray whilst he had bumped her.

All In all, the young ravenette girl still ended up on the floor with a painful thud, Gan Ning did end on top of her, his face did end up nestled in the small swell of her breasts and people did end up stopping what they were doing to watch the tragic scene. Sun Quan stared with wide eyes at the indecorum situation and Lu Meng, who waltzed back from the back room with a drink in his hand (which ended up on the floor) almost screamed, probably misunderstanding the situation.

Gan Ning groaned, which only made the situation worse, and lifted his head from the girl's chest. Poor Mei Yuan didn't know what to do and settled for simply gaping down at the rugged ex-pirate in repulsion.

"W-what..?" She was lost for words. Gan Ning, through all of his drunken idiocy took his time to examine the girls face. Things he'd never noticed before started to appear, like the way her dark eyes were larger than most, the way her lips were as pink as a rose petal and shaped like a cupid's bow. A few very insignificant freckles adorned her face, almost as if someone had sprinkled them over her nose and cheeks in a light dusting. Like one would do to a delicious cake.

As his observations continued, he found himself getting closer and closer to the girl beneath him to the point where he shut his eyes and was ready to let his drunken state reveal the emotions that he himself was oblivious to having.

"GAN NING!"

And the moment ended when he was ripped away from the girl and placed in a seat, instantly, he turned his head to the side, curled over his chair and spewed all over the floor. Various people cringed, others groaned in disgust, some laughed, and others (who were a bit weaker stomached) threw up at the sight.

"Are you alright, Mei Yuan?!" Sun Quan pulled the young Shu girl up from the ground and inspected her for any injury. Mei Yuan didn't know how to answer. She simply couldn't take her eyes off of the now passed out Wu officer. An emotion filled her eyes. It wasn't the disgust that she felt when his head was buried in her chest and it wasn't the anger when he'd harshly kidnapped her from her place in the Shu army. It was something deeper, something more powerful and mind blowing that she was at loss for words. It stirred inside her ribcage, in her heart and then down to her stomach where it fluttered. She thought at first that it may have been confusion but after a while, when her face felt warm beneath the worried gazes of the kidnappers that had treated her so kindly, and even just switching her gaze to the man who was on top of her moments before, something about the feeling changed. Feeling embarrassed, Mei Yuan excused herself for some fresh air before high tailing it out of there. She didn't care how many armies they sent after her, there was no way she was staying there. And as soon as that, she ran off into the night.

O~O~O~O~O

Gan Ning groaned and covered his face with his powerful arm, his eyes rolling about under their fleshy lids. He had no memory of what happened the night before and was completely confused. It was like he had awoken from the dead. His head pounded viciously against the pillow he rested it on.

He remembered vague bits of the evening. Like when he'd got into the bar and started ordering drinks. And he remembered Ling Tong and Lu Meng coming in to sit with him for a while, having small drinks. Ling Tong had only a few before glaring at Gan Ning and leaving. But Gan Ning remembered Lu Meng staying to watch out for him. The lecherous old man was going on about how Gan Ning should 'show his true emotions more' and Gan Ning replied something along the lines of 'Is that what you do? I don't want to end up like you, old man!' and from then onwards, everything was black. Although, he does recall that god damn Mei Yuan walking in and he said some things to her. Then he called being on top of her and-

His thoughts were cut short when a small giggle came from behind him and a slim finger seductively ran up his chest. His breath hitched in his throat and his eyes widened to extremes he'd never thought they'd go. There was no way… He couldn't have… She would never…

He couldn't have slept with _Mei Yuan _could he?! He was reluctant to turn and face her. If his thoughts were true and they did end up sleeping together, he'd most likely deflowered her, a thought which brought a prideful sneer to his face. And he's not exactly a gentle lover either. Turning to face her, his smirk disappeared when he came face to face with a woman. A _woman. _That would start things off. Mei Yuan wasn't even close to being a woman. Mei Yuan had small, seemingly non-existent breasts, whereas this _woman _had average, well developed breasts. Mei Yuan had a tiny waist and a small, pert backside, whereas, from the view of seeing this woman laying on her front in a sultry manner, this woman had child bearing hips with a voluptuous backside. Mei Yuan-

"You wanna go for a round four? You were **amazing **last night." Her voice was deep and hot, while, Mei Yuan's voice was high yet demure. This woman was everything Mei Yuan wasn't. This woman was sexy, tempting and the perfect woman for Gan Ning. And he despised her because of it.

"Get out."

The woman's concubine smile formed into a frown and before she could question what he'd said Gan Ning was up and out of bed, hands on hips, bare assed and filled with naked rage.

"I said, _GET OUT." _He roared; his toned, muscular body rippling with waved of anger. The woman became tearful before getting out of bed, gathering her things and scuttling away. Gan Ning didn't even watch her behind as he usually would with his whores. She wasn't innocent. She wasn't naïve. And she wasn't _her._

That woman had already been tainted by probably over one hundred men but Mei Yuan… She would be his to taint. _He _desired her first. _He _brought her back with him. _He _would be the one to have her. No one else, not Ling Tong, not anybody.

As he sat back down, he rubbed his face before looking down at his lap. He should probably wash. He smelled more vulgar than he usually did. And that's saying something. Gan Ning, being a natural fighting man, usually ignored his body odour until someone reminded him of what a pile of crap he smelt like. And THEN he would bathe.

He didn't understand why that morning was different from any time he'd left washing after sex until about three weeks later. Maybe it was the fact that not only did he smell **dirty **but he also felt **dirty**. Not because he felt guilty, of course. After all, he WAS Gan Ning. He wasn't really too sure of himself, to be honest. Why was that wench so different from all of the other women he'd had in his lair?

Oh, right.

Because she wasn't _her._

A rough knock to his hut pulled him from his dark thoughts and he immediately pulled the wool blanket over his lap. Well, he did have a bit of decency at least.

"Gan Ning, Open this door right now!"

The voice, Gan Ning recognized, was Sun Quan. Immediately, Gan Ning panicked. What had he done now?! He inwardly groaned. He hadn't slept with the princess too, had he?

"It's open." He replied.

Sun Quan stormed in and his angry eyes immediately scanned the room, especially the bed.

"Where's Mei Yuan?" His voice was cold. Gan Ning stared at Sun Quan as if he'd grown another head.

"What?"

Sun Quan's gaze never ceased to terrify Gan Ning.

"Mei Yuan. She hasn't been seen since last night." Sun Quan's voice was gruff and angry. The Wu emperor was adamant that the ex-pirate had something to do with it. The veins on his temples protruded out in angry blue swells as the young emperor's breathing slowed dangerously. Gan Ning stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"She's missing?" The muscular officer's voice cracked towards the end slightly, probably not giving him the most innocent of Alibi's.

The emperor roamed his eyes around the room once more before averting his furious eyes back to Gan Ning.

"Yes… I've sent soldiers, Lieutenants and even Officers searching for her. But she cannot be found. Gan Ning, please be honest with me," He stopped speaking, walking up to Gan Ning, and looking down into his eyes, searching for even the slightest trace of remorse or guilt; anything that could maybe reveal that he was to blame. After all, someone had to be responsible, "have you seen her?"

Gan Ning thought hard about what had happened. He honestly never recalled seeing her after the few memories he had of the bar.

"No. I swear it, Quan."

Usually, it would be quite offensive if a mere officer would address the emperor so informally. But, Sun Quan figured, this was Gan Ning. Sun Quan would be lucky if he didn't sleep with his sister and excrete on his throne. Well… he wasn't _that _bad. But Sun Quan wasn't expecting the rugged, rough and tumble ex-pirate to bow to the ground and kiss his feet.

Sun Quan sighed and closed his eyes, the anger disappearing. But he couldn't help but worry for the young girl. She was so small and frail. Sure, from what he heard, she could run. But sources also told him that she had the strength of a dormouse. Rubbing his hand harshly over his slightly stubbled chin, he looked back to Gan Ning.

"Alright, Ning, alright, I believe you. But it would be a great help if you were to search also."

Sun Quan began to walk towards the door of the small shack whilst Gan Ning stood, the rough, itching blanket held to his crotch by his hands.

"Alright."

Sun Quan stopped as he was about to walk out.

"Oh, and Ning?"

Gan Ning looked up at Sun Quan's back, expecting another lecture on how he's so _knowledgeable _on feelings and emotions.

"Yeah?"

Sun Quan turned his head slightly with an awkward smile.

"Please put some clothes on."

Gan Ning growled through a sneer before dropping the blanket and picking up scattered clothing, armour and bells as soon as the young emperor had left and shut the door behind him.

O~O~O~O~O~O

Mei Yuan puffed, falling to her knees in the mud. The day was young still and she had been running throughout the night. Her limbs were freezing, covered by only the short, green tunic and silken black trousers, both of which were covered in mud. The landscape had not been kind to her, and the destination of which she wanted to reach was further away than she thought it would be. The cold weather had cause the ground around the countryside to soften and moisten, making it extremely difficult to escape to the other kingdom swiftly. Horseback, it probably would have taken her about seven hours, maybe longer due to the conditions of the landscape. But seeing as she wanted to avoid any unnecessary scraps, she kept to the shadows of the Wu main camp and snuck away into the chill evening. She'd be lucky if she reached Shu by noon at the rate she was going.

That's if… she didn't die first.

No. She shook her head. She couldn't afford to think like that.

But there were so many ways that she could perish over the cold and damp marsh lands. The cold that was biting harshly at her toes through the confines of her sandals, which didn't actually offer any protection against the muddy juices that were released from the ground every time her foot would sink into it with a dissatisfying _**squelch, **_could cut off the circulation in her feet and give her hypothermia or frost bite. Well, that might not kill her, but the amount of time she would be laying there without food might. She could have been killed by the vicious animals that roamed those parts. Like wolves, tigers or even people that were cut off from society and driven insane by the lack of human contact.

The last thought scared her a little bit as she trudged on, looking around her nervously. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself for comfort when she became aware of how vulnerable she was. Running was pretty much the only thing she was good at and it was the only thing that had helped her survive thus far. And for the time being, she was restricted by the bogs. Running would do nothing for her.

As her big, onyx eyes continued to peer at her surroundings, she became more and more scared, causing her heart rate to increase. She should have thought it through. Nothing was worse than being alone, that was what her mother always told her. She told her to always seek the help of others when you were stuck. But now she was stuck, and nobody was there for her to rely on.

A small, almost non-existent noise echoed throughout the barren wasteland which made her hiccup and jump, turning around shakily. She was unsure of whether or not she wanted to. What if there was somebody there who wanted to get her. To kill her, feast off of her flesh and boil her bones?

Well, maybe she was over exaggerating a little bit. But it was all perfectly rational.

She was alone…


	4. Chapter four- Territory unknown

The frail little oriental girl's nostrils flared upon her awakening. Opening her eyes hazily, her dark irises idly rolled around her surroundings. Her dark eyes saw doubles, only making out colourful shapes and dim lights wherever she flickered her gaze before her vision was completely swathed by heavy lids. No longer was she in a bog that slowly sucked her body down into the Earth but instead, found that she was nestled in a warm bed of knitted blankets and pillows of silk and cotton. The softly lit room smelled heavily of incense, a scent which the girl found comforting. It smelled of Jasmine with a hint of Opium. As her body shifted so that she could lie on her back, she found the source of the soothing fragrance and lay there observing it.

The grey smoke spiralled upwards in a _Wēnróu de wǔdǎo; _a gentle dance. The smoke was like an ashen ribbon that twirled in reverse into the air before disappearing like a whisper to the wind. The wooden incense holder was shaped like a sleeping dragon to make it seem like it was breathing out the dust from its lungs in its tranquil slumber. Her eyes trailed around the room and took note of various other details like how the book cases were chipped and seemingly aged. They were lavished with decrepit, old books in all different sizes and skins. Her attention was brought to the enfeebled desk in the corner with, again, books piled head height on top one another. There was an overused wax candle away from the books which dripped wax onto the table. Though it seemed as though that time hadn't been the first, seeing as the wax was pooled around the bronze base in a solid, lumpy puddle. From where she could see from her lying down position, there was a writing brush that dripped ink in sluggish droplets onto what she expected would be paper. Her almost black orbs flickered over the clay walls, to the potted fern on top of a sturdy shelf near the desk, to the floors which were solid ground but dusted with dirt and small stones.

She felt almost intrigued at the mystery the room held. It was so cryptic and strange; almost exotic.

Drawing her attention back to reality, the girl winced as she went to silently stretch her legs under the covers. Her shoulders hunched to her chin and she clenched her fists as she pointed her toes and stretched. Her legs throbbed lightly in resistance for a moment before waking up. As she brought her fingers up to her raven hair, she gasped at the fact that her plait had been released and her once long hair was shortened to her shoulder blades. Even her fringe had been straightened out!

What was going on?

Turning her head from left to right in search of an exit, she almost jumped when she heard the door be pushed open. Her eyes widened when the giant beast shoved its head in, examining her and every movement she made. The dark eyes silently bore into her and its ears twitched, listening for any sounds or vibrations before it stalked in, its leather padded paws thumping across the ground, creating a sound similar to the rhythm of a war drum. The girl's breath was captured in her throat as it tightened with fear. The wolf that eerily advanced towards her with a hauntingly calm look made no move to ravage her and feed off of her flesh, but simply stopped when it was nose to nose with her, slumped down onto the bed mat and rested its ginormous head heavily on her stomach, restricting her movements involuntarily. The beast made a whining noise and flicked its onyx orbs here there and everywhere before hiding them behind closed lids.

The girl just lay there, staring at the ceiling in bemusement. Where was she? How should she react with this giant grey creature sleeping on her? If it was a sign of affection, then surely she should at least try to offer a sign of gratitude.

With that in mind, she pulled her hand out from underneath it, which caused a warning growl to fumble deep in its throat, and pat it. This only seemed to threaten the wolf more when its growl grew fiercer and it lifted its head and snarled at her, baring its yellowing teeth behind rubbery black lips speckled with coarse, sharp hairs. The Chinese girl immediately became immobile and lay her hand down again, fearing for her life. The monster stared at her for a moment longer, as if inspecting if she was going to attempt to that that again before laying its head down again, eyeing her for at least a minute and closing its eyes once more. The ravenette cringed in slight discomfort when the weight of its head pushed her stomach down again but soon ignored it when she pondered upon how she'd got there.

All she remembered was running from that wretched kingdom and having to trudge through the vast swamps.

And that was when her eyes lit up.

That was it! She was trying to get back to the Shu kingdom! Back to her home!

But she didn't know where she was at that moment in time. She seemed to be trapped almost. But surely whoever had brought her there had done so in an act of kindness…

She shifted slightly, making the wolf flinch. It was really no use trying to get away. The animal would warn her every time she even moved. Well, at least it was keeping her warm.

Gan Ning didn't know what to do after a week of the girl's absence. What did he do _before _she came along? Fought, ate, had sex and slept. But suddenly, all of that became unappealing after she came into his life… well, after he DRAGGED her into his life, he thought with a small lopsided grin. Nothing felt satisfying now that she wasn't there. His fighting lacked his normal brutality and stamina, the rice tasted stale, the women all felt the same and he'd developed a rather irritating case of insomnia.

Lying on his bed, atop the various knitted and deer pelt blankets, he thought about her. He wondered where she was with a bitter scowl on his features and anger in his heart. She'd escaped. They'd followed her dainty little shoe prints in the mud up to a point until they just couldn't be bothered to follow any longer. She had been long gone.

The rugged ex-pirate knew that the fact that she, of course, had wanted to go home shouldn't bother him. Of course she'd wanted to leave. He'd kidnapped her.

But something beyond his power gurgled and throbbed in the pit of his stomach and in the cage of his chest which made him feel not only rage but strangely sad also. He didn't mean for her to harbour any spiteful feelings towards him. Hell, what was he saying? Why should he have cared? He wasn't love sick teenager with a burning desire to court her and love her for all eternity. He was the strong, rough and tumble Wu officer who would make her his and force her to bear his children. He laughed slightly at that point, his eyes sparkling with fiendish amusement. Maybe not that far, he thought to himself. Well, who's to say that _wasn't _what he wanted? He wasn't really clear on what he wanted anymore.

Gan Ning rolled over onto his side, his tanned skin shining with proud, masculine grease under the glow of the moon through the small hut window at the top of the wall, just under the ceiling. His murky eyes bore into his hands that lay in front of him.

Is that what he truly wanted; for her to be his? Did her want to marry her and have a life with her? He'd never really thought about the future much. He was more of a 'right here, right now' kind of guy, but he knew that he'd always thought of de-flowering her. Well, that wasn't really too abnormal. He was a maturing male; it was unquestionable that he would think of that. After all, the other officers always boasted of their adventures of stealing fair maidens of their innocence. He should be allowed to think it.

But what would happen after?

Would he just leave her? No. The mere thought of that disgruntled him to an extent where he wanted to smother himself with a pillow for just thinking of it. Which was strange because he'd done it before?

Would he claim her as his? Well, that sounded like a more honest thing to do. But he wasn't exactly an _honest _guy. He'd raped, pillaged and murdered. The thought of marrying didn't exactly charm him. He didn't want to settle down. He wanted to fight into his elder ages and die on the battle field. But living a life without this girl, this plain looking, weak little girl… he couldn't even stand a week without her.

Did he… Love her..?

Instantly, his defences went up, alarms went off and his eyes narrowed as he scoffed, sitting up and jumping off of the bed, landing with a rough 'thud'. What a **stupid **thought. What was love? The only thing he loved was fighting, sex and alcohol. All of which he'd been put off after her departure.

Walking over to the door, he stopped for a moment before slamming it open.

Mei Yuan stared up at the ceiling, completely immobilized by the hulking creature that over the hours had gradually stretched its entire body over her middle section. Her forehead shined in the candle light with moisture. The monstrous wolf's body heat had merged with hers and thus created an abnormally hot temperature. Her breaths were raspy and sharp, making the wolf's ears twitch in each exhalation.

She wasn't sure if she could stand the beast much longer. Her arms were trapped under the great creature and buzzed, going numb. But as soon as she tried to move, it would threaten her.

Mei Yuan's eyes snapped to the door in almost excitement, hearing it open.

Her heavy panting came to a halt when her breath was caught in her throat.

The man was tall and slender. He wore robes of different blues and purples that seemed a strange contrast to the antiquity and mystery of the room. The bright colours seemed to give everything a more cold and unforgiving demeanour. His eyes were slim and almost feline-like as they studied her and she felt herself trying to gulp down her worry, her dry and scratchy throat not being very merciful upon this need as it made her want to cough. She'd seen the man before on the battlefield. It was obvious he was of Wei. She couldn't remember exactly _who _he was, but she knew to be wary of him. She'd first met him when she was a messenger for her one and only kingdom, Shu. So it must have been either the battle of Xu province, where she had to deliver the cavalry positions to her lord, Liu Bei, or it was the battle of Hulao gate, where she was still given meaningless tasks of delivering water or food for the officer's horses.

The man's gaze averted to the hulking beast on top of her before he clapped his hand, awakening it and shooing it out. Mei Yuan immediately shot up and stretched out her arms and back. The feeling that returned in them was definitely a pleasant welcome.

Mei Yuan met his gaze hastily and he just raised his upper lip in a strange snarl, almost like he was trying to smile.

"It's a rogue wolf. But it won't hurt you. It comes for the left overs." His voice was smooth but still fairly eerie. And Mei Yuan trembled at the thought of what he meant by 'left overs.' Mei Yuan watched him walk over to the scribe table and take a seat, picking up the marble writing brush, dipping it in ink and continuing with whatever he was doing probably before she'd awoken when he'd left. Mei Yuan blinked owlishly at him. Why was he being so casual? Shouldn't he have known she was from? If so, then why was he letting her sleep in what must have been his study?

The petite Oriental girl's eyes roamed him as if just doing that would give her answers before she spoke.

"U-um…" her voice was grating against her throat, which caused her to cough. The man turned back around to watch her continuously cough into her fist with moisture gathering at the corner or her eyes before the man in blue carefully took hold of a water basin that stood stably on the old table and poured a stream of crystalline liquid into a bowl before standing up, making his way over to her and crouching down so that he could give her the drink.

Mei Yuan stared into his strangely blue eyes. Why was he being so kind?

The incense had long since burned out and all that remained were the ashes that lay in front of the sleeping dragon in a disarray and a faint smell of the Opium and Jasmine. The wick of the candle had chased the wax for another few millimetres but there was still plenty left. It shouldn't have been much of a problem replacing it anyway. Of course, you had the odd person who wasn't all there and might have cried when the candle would have been used up. They were usually the superstitious type though. Mei Yuan wasn't one for superstitions. She did let herself believe in them for a short while after her Uncle ChangDong sadly perished after mocking the superstition of rubbing a dog's eye fluid in your eye. It is said that doing so will bring great misfortune in being able to see the supernatural and in doing so, will kill you. Poor old uncle ChangDong decided to put this theory to the test and all didn't end well for him. After his burial ceremony when Yuan cried over her dearly missed Uncle, her mother would always tell her that he had it coming and that he shouldn't have mocked the ways of the ancestors and the gods.

And being so young, of course it would have influenced her a little bit. She loved Uncle ChangDong with all of her heart. Mei Yuan and her father used to call him Uncle Nuòfū kù (coward pants) behind his back because of his fear of practically everything around him. It was actually quite ironic that he died of mocking one of the only things he _wasn't _scared of.

Mei Yuan searched the man's face for a little while longer, making sure he wasn't showing any signs of wrath or cunning before taking the bowl. Once it was brought to her dry, chapped lips, the water was practically all gone in a second. The drinking bowl was larger than most she'd drank from as well. As she gulped the water down like someone who'd been deprived of water for days, which water partially true, she caught the man observing her with a small smirk on his face. She didn't know if it was his attempts of smiling again or if he genuinely was fiendishly delighted by her, but it did put her on edge a little bit.

Eventually, he spoke out in that cruel, unforgiving voice of his.

"What kingdom do you reside, little girl?"

Mei Yuan dropped drinking and panted lightly, her small chest pushing out and then pulling back in, which did make his eyes avert from her face for a moment before travelling back up to her eyes, clearly not interested in what her torso had to offer him. The girl hesitated at first, not sure what to tell him. She had to think about it strategically. She was originally wearing the colours of Shu but upon wakening, she'd found herself in a normal silken sleeping robe.

"Uh…I'm a rogue." Her voice cracked at the beginning of the words that flowed out of her mouth, but ran smoothly back into her usual soft yet demure tone. She'd turned her head slightly to avoid speaking directly to his face. She'd been sleeping for gods know how long and felt it would be more polite to avoid pelting him with the smell of a mouth uncared for.

The man seemed to misinterpret this as something else and pulled her face upwards, probably aiming for a sweet façade, but it ended up feeling like a falcon was clutching her face. The man clearly wasn't one of kind gesture.

"Why do you hide your face, little blossom? Are you hiding something from me?" He spoke his words with gentle etiquette but there was a harsh undertone hidden in the depths that made her want to tell the truth. Now what would she say? Mei Yuan hesitated, looking up at him with her large, oval eyes that occasionally blinked slowly.

"N-no, it's not that," she tried to turn her head but he kept it where he could see her face, making her hold her breath as she spoke. "It's just that… I'm sure I've been asleep for some time, my lord. And I didn't want to offend you with my… my breath…"

All was quiet for a while until he threw his head back and let out an angelic chortle. The small Chinese girl awkwardly sat there with his large, gloved hand still grappled onto her face, almost swallowing it whole with its mighty size compared to her tiny, feminine skull. Her arms and shoulder blades began to ache from having to keep herself up. She was a delicate thing indeed.

The man began to study her face, turning head to the left, then right, up and then down before retreating back to his writing desk, sitting down and picking up the brush again.

"You are a strange young thing, aren't you?" His voice was distant from where she sat, shifting her position into something more comfortable. He didn't even turn his head to address her, something that would have been quite rude if they were of the same status. But it was quite obvious that he was probably a nobleman or someone high up in the ranks of the Wei hierarchy. Everything he did and said told her so. Mei Yuan was about to speak but almost as if he read her mind, he did instead.

"A soldier found you about a mile away from a nearby watch post, drowning in the mud."

Once again, he didn't look at her, just carried on with his calligraphy, completely focused. Mei Yuan cocked her head, but then she recalled blacking out. She'd been really afraid, so afraid that maybe the fear had taken over her common sense and allowed her to become immobile in the mud.

This time, he turned his head to the side, his eyes focused on something to the side of him before he talked to her.

"You were stuck in quicksand and, luckily for you, it was only shallow." He looked at her with those cold, blue, narrowed eyes.

"Actually, I'm guessing you were fairly wise in that situation. When he found you, you were on your back and looked as if you had fallen asleep in patiently moving your body to the edge. Most would have, if it had been deeper, panicked and most likely had sunk to their deaths. I applaud you, girl."

His scowling eyes waited for her reaction, which there was no obvious one, before turning to carry on with his work. Mei Yuan thought to herself.

So why was she here? Why was this man taking care of her when surely, anybody else could? And speaking of taking care of, why had he gone through the trouble of cutting her hair and cleaning her? Well, maybe her long plait had been completely soiled by the mud so much that it would have been easier to cut it, but why had he trimmed her fringe? Actually, it could have been someone else. She could have been taken care of someone else first before he took her in. But the fact still remained, why did he take her in? Surely it would have been simpler to just leave her in the hands of another.

After about an hour of her thinking and occasionally watching the man, and the man writing through about three scrolls and a quarter of paper, there was a knock of the large, wooden door. The man turned and looked at the door, completely stoic.

"You may enter."

The door opened to reveal, no doubt, a young messenger boy, someone that Mei Yuan so longed to be. There was a heavy feeling in her stomach; heart and mind that made her just want to cry. She missed Shu. She missed the kingdom, the people and her Lord, Liu Bei. It had been at least a week and a half since she'd last seen any of it and she'd found herself feeling quite alone. She'd always been near something familiar all of her life. And now, even that wretched Gan Ning would do.

Suddenly thinking of him, a scowl and a blush were brought to her fair, olive skinned face. They didn't exactly depart on good terms. She growled silently. That lecherous, no good… Her mind trailed off as all of the angry featured on her face became known by the poor messenger boy who she'd been glaring at with ill intent, making him panic and sputter out his message. The tall man in front raised an eyebrow at the boy and allowed the boy to leave, in a hurry, before walking over to Mei Yuan.

He offered her a hand and she simply stared at it, questioning what he wanted her to do. The tall man once again raised his brow.

"Were you not listening? We have been requested by the Lord Cao Cao's tight hand and son, Lord Cao Pi. Cao Cao has errands to run for today and is too busy. The upcoming battle with Wu at You Ting will need much planning, come we must find something more appropriate to wear."

Mei Yuan took his hand and nervously followed him out of the room.


	5. Chapter five- Behind enemy lines

The young emperor rested his chin upon his large, masculine fist, watching another peasant kneel before him and beg for a petition of either money or farming supplies. It was truly boring for him. His father was away for the day, preparing for the upcoming battle with Wu and he had to take charge of the emperor's usual daily routine. The tasks he was assigned were indeed quite tedious and though they required very little concentration and effort, he felt himself slowly sinking further and further into the deep depths of boredom. It was a boring day filled with boring people and even the weather seemed to worsen his mood. The rain could be heard thudding against the stone of the castle in a heavy down pour, unusual for the warm time of year. It also made it difficult to take a step out of the throne room without sliding about in the mud. The young man wouldn't have minded, in fact, the idea of going out into the rain and sliding all the way to the combat grounds rather appealed to him. But the advisor made it perfectly clear that the boy was to fulfil the tasks set by his Lord father.

The throne room was indeed a grand one. The large, grey bricks of the castle walls were so thick that even a catapult would have trouble breaking them down. Upon them were dark blue drapes and banners that made the room seem cold but majestic. Along the floor, various maids and wenches made sure to scrub until it shone in the light of the candles above them. It was a dreary site, if the young man should say so himself. And as peasant after peasant went in and went back out again, probably not with the assistance and money they requested due to his ill temper, he let his mind wander.

Rumour had it that there was a girl pulled from the marshes a mile from the kingdom that was only just alive. They said that if she'd been out there an hour or two longer she may have frozen to death. He thought that was a ridiculous theory himself and declared mentally that they were probably just over exaggerating her condition. It was the summer, and the worst that could have happened would be if she became ill with the Flu. Nothing too serious, But still, after careful observation, that fool of a strategist, Sima Yi suggested that she should be taken care of. So she'd remained under his watchful eye ever since. Upon hearing of her awakening, he felt it appropriate that she should come and have an audience with him; after all, they couldn't give her special treatment forever. He didn't really know what to expect, since his father had been the one to accompany Sima Yi that day upon one of the soldier's on guard's findings. But he'd been told by one of the advisors that she was a scrawny little thing, fairly ordinary, with beauty not really worth mentioning, if she was beautiful at all, he remembered the man had snorted under his breath.

So when she'd stumbled into the throne room wearing a rather _short _blue, silken tunic dress, her short raven hair pulled back and twirled into a bun, penetrated by two cheaply carved chopsticks, Sima Yi tailing behind her, urging her forward to the Young Lord, he had to agree with what the advisor had told him. Whilst wasn't as ugly as he'd imagined, and he did rather enjoy the sight of her exposed legs, she was still a mere child to him. She looked to be about thirteen of fourteen, correct him if he was wrong. But she had no assets to speak of. Maybe it was just him; in spite of everything, his wife was a fairly beautiful and voluptuous woman. And compared to Zhen Ji, this girl was a baby. Still, he shifted into a more upright and fierce position, belittling the girl with his eyes, despite her obvious lack of knowledge to it, her focus more on her surroundings and tugging on the back of her tunic to attempt to cover her buttocks that was probably close to showing. But he had to look in control. He was, nevertheless, in direct line to the throne of Wu after his father. And if this girl was of a rivalling kingdom, he'd have to leave a serious impression.

So, away was his bored expression and present an intimidating and smouldering narrowed eyed stare at the little girl who'd finally noticed his glares, making her hiccup in fear upon finally reaching the end of the long, blue, woven rug. Sima Yi smirked at the young Lord and bowed, slapping the girl on the rear subtly to make her bow also, which she did with a wide eyed glare at the inappropriate gesture.

"We are here as you requested, Lord Cao Pi." His voice was as cold and calculating as ever, Cao Pi noted distastefully. He never really enjoyed the man's company, but the snake was still a brilliant strategist and was probably the reason for Wei's success so far. Cao Pi shifted his position, his knees opening wide in a more governing position as he clutched the throne's arms, cocking his head to the side slightly and staring at the girl, making her feel awkward under his gaze.

"Thank you, Sima Yi. And have we gained knowledge of the girl's identity?" His voice, he acknowledged, was just as cold as Sima Yi's was beforehand, but he washed that thought away, not feeling the slightest bit hypocritical.

Mei Yuan flinched under the way he spoke of her. Somehow, she felt as if he wasn't too fond of her. Which she found unbelievable, seeing as she'd never even met him before. Sure, she probably had the chance to many times in the past on the battlefield, but she didn't. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he was just as spiteful and mean with everyone.

"No, I haven't gained access to her name yet, my lord." Sima Yi's snide stare turned down to her, his large, gloved hand returning to her back, making her internally cringe..._Creepy… _The man was fairly handsome. He was tall with broad shoulders and an angelic but sinister face. But so far, he seriously scared her. Just the ways in which he touched her and stared at her, like a reptile. And it was almost as if… as if he somehow _knew _that he was intimidating her. It was like it was what he was _aiming _for.

Cao Pi watched as the young girl stared back at Sima Yi, a scowl forming on her innocent little face, her large, obsidian eyes narrowing at him. The strategist's lips twitched into a smirk.

"Well? Tell Lord Cao Pi your name." Cao Pi's dark eyes followed the tall strategist's hand as it once again travelled to the back of her again, making her eyes grow angrier. Sima Yi smirked down at her, clearly knowing what he was doing to her. Cao Pi cringed. The strategist was a sadist. His brow rose when her angry almond shaped eyes turned to him.

"Mei Yuan, my Lord." She spat, stepping away in a hostile manner from the strategist in who looked as if he had to stop himself from cackling. Sima Yi bowed to Cao Pi with a dark smile on his face.

"And there you have it, my Lord."

Mei Yuan tried to find ways to cross her arms over her chest in a way that didn't pull the edges of her tunic up but after failing miserably, she settled with keeping them at her sides, negligibly keeping the short article of clothing at a (Not so) modest length. She observed the man in front of her who sat upon the throne with almost no interest in her what so ever. Mei Yuan's cheeks heated up when she finally took in Lord Cao Cao's son. In the glorious name of her lord Liu Bei, she swore she'd never seen such a handsome man in her life. It may have just been the naïve, giggling, little girl inside of her, but she could be sure that she'd warmed up to the man a whole lot more within the space of a few seconds. She could feel her stomach tingle slightly when he ran his murky eyes over her petite body, his gaze so dominating and confident. She'd never really felt that way before. She was always so professional when it came to those sorts of things. In fact, she'd always hated those girls you'd see ogling at the male officers as they'd rode through the village she was brought up in. She could remember it vividly.

_Hooves thumped against dirt and stone almost like music and armour clattered as the soldiers marched. The village itself was a small farming village that harvested mainly rice and vegetables such as Bok Choy, white radishes, garlic chives and eggplants as well as others that tended to be grown in fields. Mei Yuan was ten at the time and sat outside of the local wine bar, munching on bamboo shoots with her growing adult incisors. She wasn't particularly interested in the soldiers that marched through her village, causing such a ruckus. It had excited her the first time it had happened, but it had become a regular occurrence for the past year. Her mother had said that they'd come in search of resources for the soldiers that were fighting in battles. _

_The only thing that did actually bring her from her bamboo shoots every now and again were the wealthy girls across the road at the tea house who sat in their long silken Ruqun robes and giggled coyly at the soldiers, pointing out the really good looking ones to each other and laughing. Mei Yuan would simply scowl at them and continue munching away. Disgusting… She could never understand their infatuation with the men. She liked bamboo shoots. They were better._

"_What're you eating there, kid?"_

_Mei Yuan looked up, her bored eyes catching the officer off guard. The man was tall and burly. He had locks of a noble; scruffy and light that reflected over his heavily armoured shoulder that, like his hair, glistened in the sun. Mei Yuan stopped chewing, the cool flavour something that she always enjoyed, and spoke._

"_Bamboo shoots." The kid's voice was higher than a boy of that age should be. The officer thought to himself. _

_The large man ruffled his hair with a hand and plonked down beside the, what he didn't realize was actually a, girl. The girl wobbled slightly as he sat next to her, his heaviness shaking the floor, but alas, she continued eating._

"_Are you a panda?" The man's low voice joked as he leant back on his hands and watched the soldiers march to the centre of the village before being dismissed by their captain and dispersing around the place. The girl scowled at him through one eye, moving the basket of refreshing shoots away from him as his big, gloved hand reached for one._

"_I'm not a panda. I'm a girl." She stated matter-of-factly through a mouthful of food. The man blinked at her and scratched his head. The kid was a girl? Well, her hair was long. But she didn't exactly look like a girl. She didn't act like a girl either. And she surely didn't dress like one. _

_The girl ignored him for about five minutes until she'd noticed the girls across the road staring in their direction and giggling. Mei Yuan cocked her head to the side until she looked towards the man who sat there whistling a tune that she didn't recognize. His eyes found their way to hers and he gave her a questionable look. Mei Yuan looked him up and down innocently. Why did they stare at men like him that way? Was there something funny about them? The man was cleanly shaven and nice smelling in her opinion. He looked fresh and clean, that was for sure. He was probably a knight for some king somewhere. She had little understanding about knights and kings but she'd always wanted to be a soldier. She'd practice every day down by the river with the other farmer's sons and they would hit each other with sticks and throw rocks at each other, imitating catapults. Her mother didn't like it though. Mei Yuan would always go home with cuts and bruises and her mother would clip her across the ear for allowing herself to get so beat up. Her mother wasn't exactly a mean woman. But she was strict and smitten with the idea of finding Mei Yuan a perfect 'suitor' or whatever that meant, Mei Yuan didn't know. But her father would simply laugh and calm her mother down, saying that it was just her age._

"_What? Is there something on my face?" The man felt about his perfect face, checking his hand for anything that could have been rubbed off before going back to search again. Mei Yuan raised a brow at his odd behaviour._

"_No. It's not that."_

_The man stopped and followed her gaze to the girls across the street that blushed and whispered to each other excitedly from his attention. Mei Yuan was confused._

"_Why do those girls look at men like you like that? Why do they laugh at you? Are you funny?"_

_Mei Yuan crossed her legs and stared at the floor, grabbing another handful of bamboo shoots and stuffing them into her small mouth, confusion written all over her little face. _

_The man looked at her for a moment, completely stunned by her question. The kid was odd. He'd never met someone so honest before. Well, he probably had, but it had been a long time coming across one. It was kind of refreshing to hear such innocence. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. _

"_Haven't your parents told you about eels and caves yet, kid?" He couldn't believe he was having such an awkward conversation with a child. He couldn't believe he was __**explaining **__such things to a child. The girl turned to him and frowned, her skinny jaw rising and falling with each chew of the bamboo shoots she took. What on earth was he talking about? Eels and caves..? What was that supposed to mean? It sounded ridiculous if you asked her._

"_What? What do you mean 'eels and caves'…? Am I supposed to know what that means?"_

_The man looked at her again and let out a dry laugh. Who'd have thought it? If he could have taken a wild guess ten years ago where he would be, in a little village that smelt like muck and fish explaining to a child the concept of fucking wouldn't have been first on his list, or on his list at all what so ever. Should he really ruin the girl's innocence by telling her such a thing? But then again, he was told about it when he was seven._

"_Well… With –with what I mean by 'eels and caves'… Uh… well, you see… You, you're a girl. And you, you have a cave..! …and uh… Men… We have- we have eels! …Yeah, and hum... Well, our eels, they go in girl's caves, looking for the perfect one that uh, suits our eel's just fine. And…" He turned his eyes to her to see if she was following, and she just stared at him with a shocked expression._

"_So… what you're trying to say is that… your eel… goes in my- my cave?" _

_The man's eyes widened and he jumped slightly, waving his hands about frantically. He flushed, his perfect face looked horrified._

"_N-no," He coughed and calmed down, sighing, "What I mean is… well, you're too young for me. And you… one day, you'll be married off to a man and you'll have babies with him and-"_

_He was cut off by a light hearted, high pitched laugh and he immediately looked at her with irritation. Mei Yuan couldn't stop laughing, clutching her knees and bending over, releasing high pitched howls._

"_WH…what's so funny, kid?!" He narrowed his eyes at her and slouched, his green, polished armour rattling as he did so. The little girl couldn't stop laughing and gasped, clutching her stomach._

"_Aha… Hah… I think you mean the birds and the bees! Why on earth were you talking about eels?" She guffawed; eyes clenched shut as her mouth let out little hiccups of laughter. The man stared at her in surprise, noticing her two little incisors as she giggled. What had just happened? He simply watched her bellow out sweet little laughs. Okay, he could believe she was a girl at that point. All of them somehow found a way to belittle men, no matter what the age. He huffed and swiped a few bamboo shoots from her basket, making her whimper and reach for them as he quickly shoved them into his mouth, finding it hard to chew them whilst he was laughing at her failing attempts of getting them out. _

"_These are good!" He mused as she plopped back down with a growl, moving the wicker basket to the other side of herself so he wouldn't be able to get to them in the future. _

"_Mother says that if you take other people's food, the gods will make you fat as a punishment." She muttered under her breath, making him scoff. His eyes followed each and every one of the soldiers under his command walk here and there, collecting foods, wines and women. Some of them stopped to acknowledge him to which he would wave them away and pick at his teeth, removing some remaining bamboo shoots. The girl gave him a sideways glance._

"_You never did tell me why those girls laugh at you." He looked at her again with misty eyes. She examined his face again, noticing small details, like the blue of his eyes and the beauty mark above his right cheek bone. His nose was perfect and straight and his lips were a soft peach colour. He had quite a fair complexion. Mei Yuan thought he looked like a girl. A really butch one though. He let out a 'humph'._

"_Have you seen me? I'm gorgeous. They probably wanna marry me or something, and have my children. I don't really pay much attention to it, to be honest." His voice was monotone. The air between them had definitely relaxed more and was actually quite comfortable. The man had to admit, the girl was mature for her age and surprisingly better company than some of his own men in the army. She was someone he didn't have to always impress or intimidate. That was probably the best thing about talking to strangers. They didn't know what to expect. _

_Mei Yuan let out a giggle, her front teeth, one slightly longer than the other that was probably still growing, made him grin. _

"_How can you be so sure that you're so good looking? I think you look like woman." She jeered, smiling at him. The man's mouth dropped in fake hurt before he smiled at her again, shuffling closer to her._

"_You talk that way and you'll never be my wife when you're older." He winked at her, making her sputter and cross her arms over her chest, flushing._

"_I don't want to be your wife! I'm going to be a soldier!" She said standing up and grabbing the basket. The man too stood, realizing just how short she was, coming to his upper thigh. Strange, he'd forgotten she was just a child for a moment. _

"_A soldier, eh? Why a soldier?" _

_Mei Yuan swung the basket back and forth by her side. She hadn't really thought about it much. She just thought that it was more interesting than other options. The man stretched and gazed up to the sky. It was insanely warm and he'd felt better under the protection of the shade. The decking outside of the tavern was well protected by a canopy of trees and he wished he could've just sat there and rested, but he guessed the kid was leaving so he wouldn't have anyone to talk to back there anyway._

"_Well, I'm not sure. But I don't want to be a useless farmer's wife, that's certain." She looked back to the teahouse and saw that most of the girls had gone, probably the best thing about her day. The man laughed and ruffled her shabby hair, some of it being pulled from her braid and frizzing upon the top of her head, making her grumble._

"_Well, I did offer you to be an __**officer's **__wife, but that clearly didn't appeal to you, kid." He winked at her again. Mei Yuan scowled at him before her eyes opened wide and she blinked at him, sorting out her hair in the process._

"_You're an officer..?" She was intrigued. She'd never met an officer before. If they were all like him, she'd never take any of them serious again. The man grinned and nodded._

"_Yup, that's right. You should feel honoured." Mei Yuan just stared at him in amazement. There she was, talking to an __**actual **__officer. It felt slightly strange. Why did he choose to talk to __**her? **__Out of all of the people he could talk to… bizarre. _

"_Well… what's your name?" _

_The man's smile faded and he stared at her curiously. He crouched down until he was looking her straight in the eyes._

"_I'll tell you if you give me your bamboo shoots." He let out a grin when she began to fume._

_Mei Yuan turned her back on him and started to walk away, a skip in her step. The man stood at full height again and looked at her in bewilderment._

"_Where are you going? I thought you wanted to know my name?"_

_The little oriental child carried on walking waving to him goodbye. The man rolled his eyes and jogged over to her. For some reason, he didn't really want to stop talking to her. Maybe it was because he felt so relaxed with her, he wasn't quite sure. But she definitely did intrigue him._

"_Hey, you can't just ask for someone's name and leave before they tell you!" He stood in front of her and she simply maneuvered around him, her eyes closed._

"_Well, if that's the case, then you can't just ask for someone's bamboo shoots, its bad manners. I don't even know you!" She snapped, though her tone seemed serious, her smile said otherwise._

"_And besides, mother will have my head for eating so much already. She needs them to make dinner." The man was once again befuddled as she skipped further away from him. He laughed slightly and began to follow her._

"_You know, I thought we were friends! Well, after the talk about the 'birds and the bees', as you put it, I did, anyway." Mei Yuan turned around at this, almost causing him to bump into her. She gave him a scolding look and put her hands upon her hips, the basket sloping sideways as its hanging motion was halted by her thigh and wrist as she scowled up at him._

"_A __**grown **__man wants to be friends with a little girl?" She asked. Well, it was more like a rhetorical question. The tall man was caught off guard. 'Smart…' He thought to himself with a light hearted chuckle. Once again, she'd surprised him. He rather liked the little girl's attitude. It entertained him._

"_Sure, why not? Do you not like adults? Are adults the enemy?" He laughed at the face she made, something between a cringe and a glare that reminded him of an amusing image of a chicken being strangled. Mei Yuan looked to the side and huffed, casting him a sideways glance again._

"_You're really immature."_

"_Say's the child." _

_Mei Yuan looked at him directly and snarled dangerously. Though, she didn't look very dangerous to him. She looked like a little kitten that was using its claws for the first time ever. His light hair shone in the sun and he smiled down at her, crossing his arms over his chest and looking her over. She was so small. He swore he was never that short when he was a kid. Then again, he was always a tall one, one of the tallest in his village. He'd got it from his grandfather on his father's side. His other grandfather wasn't exactly short, but his height couldn't even rival the other's height._

"_What?" Mei Yuan seethed, feeling slightly self-conscious and crossing her arms over her chest as well, mirroring the taller man in front of her. Even his shadow was larger than her. Really, she should have been scared. He was so big. And if he wanted to, he could probably punish her for being so disrespectful to him. But somehow, she knew that he wouldn't. He was too much of a big buffoon. She'd completely disregarded the thought that he'd probably killed hundred, no, thousands of people. She just couldn't see him do it. Despite his impressive armour and the sword that rested in the sheath upon his hip, she just couldn't. _

_The man smirked and walked ahead of her, his footsteps loud thumps on the dirt and eroded stone path._

"_Oh, nothing, just thinking about how short you are." Mei Yuan glared at him and ran slightly to catch up, walking by his side. She swung the basket back and forth, her glare focused on the ground._

"_I'm not short. You're just saying that because you're an adult… of course I'm going to seem short to you." She muttered quietly. His hand rested atop of his sheath as he laughed. She was so factual about everything. He took time to stare down at her through the corners of his eyes, a smile on his face. Though at first she'd seemed like a boy, he really couldn't see it now. In fact, he believed that she could actually be quite pretty when she was older. At the minute, she was a plain looking little girl who maybe during first impressions could be mistaken as a boy. But maybe if she grew a bit, she'd definitely have a few suitors lining up outside of her door. He reached his hand down and sat his hand upon her head, which was at the perfect height, and laughed as she growled and shook if off._

"_Where do you live, kid? I want to walk you home so that you don't get murdered or kidnapped or your bamboo shoots stolen or something." His voiced droned on as he dug a pinkie finger into his ear like an ape. The child pulled a face of disgust at him and walked faster in front of him._

"_You have no manners at all." _

_The man laughed and trailed after her, getting various strange looks from his fellow soldiers who walked around the village. But after a while, they simply ignored it, coming to a conclusion that he probably knew the girl with the way he was acting._

Mei Yuan smiled at the memory. He'd followed her home that summer afternoon and eaten with her family for no reason at all. They found it quite strange that he'd taken such an interest in their young daughter and were slightly afraid, but after a while, her mother rejoiced, being infatuated with the thought of marrying her daughter off to a rich officer. Mei Yuan had never gotten his name and neither did her parents. But as he left that night, ruffling her hair and laughing at her rotten expression, he'd promised he'd return in the next year when he'd come for more supplies for his soldiers.

He never did return. His soldiers did. But he didn't accompany them. It was a different officer that was nothing like him. He didn't smile, didn't laugh and didn't steal her bamboo shoots that time around.

A part of Mei Yuan was sad at the thought. He was really nice to her and didn't patronize her like the other adults. That was something she'd have liked to get used to. And who knows, maybe if he did return like he said he would, she wouldn't be where she was at the present time. It was a strange thought but, with the way he look such a shine to her, maybe she'd have been, well, _married _to him.

She shook her head and looked at the man in front of her. He suddenly didn't seem very attractive to her at all, now that she thought about it.

The Wei strategist stared down at the girl. She'd been completely ignoring everything they'd said for about five minutes. A frown formed its way onto his face and he grabbed her wrist and forced her to look at him.

"Mei Yuan, are you alright? You seem awfully far away." He turned her face to look straight at him, her large, oval eyes meeting his narrowed blue orbs. Mei Yuan sputtered and pulled herself away from him, sorting herself out.

"Y-yes, I'm fine. I… I was just thinking about things…" Her small voice murmured as she stared at the floor before bowing towards Cao Pi, who gave her a questioning glance.

"Please, may I be excused? I need to clear my mind of my troubles." She stated demurely, tugging down the hem of the shining blue tunic once more. Sima Yi raised a single slim brow at her odd behaviour and Cao Pi did the same. The young lord stood from the well cushioned throne and slowly stepped towards the girl. Each step made her flinch for what was to come. Once the young, handsome man reached her, he circled her once, observing her movements and reactions, before stopping in front of her, close to her, and lifting her chin with his thumb and forefinger. Her eyes met with his, yet she felt nothing. What was she supposed to feel? Was she supposed to fear him? Was she supposed to swoon into his arms? She didn't want to. It was as simple as that. If first impressions were accurate, then she knew the type of man that he was, she knew that he'd most likely take pleasure out of her being conventional like the other's he'd played mind games with, and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. But as she stared into his cold, cruel eyes, she saw herself.

She looked sad. She looked troubled and distressed. Feelings that she wanted so desperately to hide from this man. But it was no use. She was only human.

Cao Pi wasn't impressed. She'd been ignoring every question he'd thrown at her and then she'd requested leave; such arrogance, such insolence. But as he stared into those dark depths of sadness, he couldn't really get the words out. She just looked so sad. Like a child. Normally, he wasn't so merciful, normally he'd demand punishment. Whether it was a man, woman _or _child, they would usually atone. But that one girl somehow broke all of the boundaries and made him feel pity. Something he hadn't felt in a while. She seemed so lost.

"What has you troubled, girl?" Even Sima Yi was shocked at the bitter sweet sting of the words. Cao Pi had wanted them to come out like one thousand angry wasps, stinging her and anyone else in a mile radius. But instead, they were like little blue butterflies that floated out and kissed her face with their wings. Even the girl was surprised. Cao Pi cleared his throat; eyes filled with silent rage, and took a step back, turning away and disappearing through a stone archway nearest them. He growled on his way out, leaving the girl and the strategist to gape after him in befuddlement, as well as a few of the wenches that were cleaning here and there. The young Lord rubbed his face and snarled, glowering ahead of him as he stormed through the many tone hallways until he reached his chambers, not caring how many servants he shoved out of the way, before entering his bed chamber, he looked around for the nearest servant girl, spotting one and walking up to her.

The girl gasped when he forcefully turned her around and shoved her roughly into a jagged, rock wall, making her cry out silently. The young lord released a feral growl that hummed from the back of his throat, scaring the poor girl. She only looked to be about fifteen. Just like that _girl _back in the throne room. Oh, the _humiliation _that he felt, the _embarrassment. _How could he look his father in the eyes after knowing he showed such sympathy for a measly girl, a weak little girl who had absolutely **no **respect for her superiors?! He should have had her beheaded. He should have ordered her execution for having such audacity!

The girl sobbed as his large had pulled her obi off and parted her robe, her breast partially revealed from under her chest bindings. Cao Pi would do anything to take his mind off it, _anything _to just forget about such a humiliating error.

"M-my Lord, What would Lady Zhen Ji think-! " She rasped out in an innocent squeak as he felt around the area between her legs that even she didn't dare to touch for such intentions. Her throat burned as she tried to hold in her tears when she felt those large, uncaring fingers penetrating her sensitive womanly area, stretching it and shoving their way in until it stung and she was sure she felt a prick of blood budding where he'd roughly torn through without a thought. Cao Pi answered her with a distasteful grunt as he eagerly pulled his fingers out and watched the girl stumble to the floor, robes a mess around her as she cried and tried to gather the articles of clothing up. He took pride in seeing such an untouched, pure thing be tainted and spoiled by a single one of his hands. He didn't care for Zhen Ji at that moment. He needed something that was intact, a _virgin. _He wanted to feel the power of dominating something so similar to the source of his vexation at that moment. He needed to ravage and ruin. And if he couldn't go out and fight to obtain the feeling, then he'd do it another way.

The girl thought of struggling but Lord Cao Pi was her master. He practically owned her. He could do as he pleased with her and forget about her the next moment. If he wanted her to clean, she would clean, if he wanted her to cook, she would cook, if he wanted her to please him in such a degrading way, she would have no choice. Her eyes became misty as he practically shoved her into his chambers like a farmer would do a sheep at the market. That was what he was degrading her to.

All she was, an animal, an _animal._ And though it hurt both physically and mentally, her superior had told her to deal with it. She had to do anything her masters, Lord Cao Cao and the young Lord Cao Pi, desired.

Ling Tong gazed at Gan Ning with confusion.

"What do you mean you're-, wait, what? What do you mean?" His hands rested on his hips, waiting for Gan Ning to explain himself.

Gan Ning sheathed his daggers and stuffed his mouth with a badly prepared rice ball before attaching his red, polished breast and shoulder plates. The bells on his hips jingled as he tried to walk away from Ling Tong into the night, a foreboding expression on his face.

"I'm going to find the stupid little wench. She'll get herself killed out there on her own." His voice too sounded quite sinister from Ling Tong's perspective and he was stuck on what to do. Should he call for aid? The rest of the camp would be asleep by then, with the forthcoming battle with Wei at You Ting, and need as much rest as possible. But what other options were there? Should he go along with Gan Ning? Well, he did sort of want to see Mei Yuan as well. He'd grown a strange attachment to the defenceless little girl when they'd first met and he wanted to make sure she was safe. And besides, who knew what Gan Ning would do to her. He's been acting odd ever since he'd met her, whether it is plotting to have vengeance for damaging his stupid 'reputation' and the unbeatable ex-pirate, or throwing his intoxicated ass all over her, the man was obsessed and it didn't settle well with Ling Tong.

"Gan Ning, listen to me, Gan Ning!" Ling Tong shouted to him, grabbing him by a muscular shoulder and tugging him to face him. Gan Ning growled and shoved him away, his hand hovering over the sheaths of his dagger in a quiet threat.

"No. I don't want to hear what you have to say!"

Ling Tong stared at him in disbelief. Sure, they'd had their scraps in the past and didn't get along too well during battle when they had to work together, but he was acting different to then. He was more aggressive than ever and refused to even look him in the eye. The young Wu officer had thought that they were on an equal wavelength for some time after they'd learned to get along… _kind of. _But as of the present, he was like an animal. He wouldn't focus on anything but having the Shu girl in his grasp. Even if only to know she was there and he could occasionally snap at her and pick arguments with her.

It wasn't love.

It was anything but love, Ling Tong was certain. As his eyes connected with Gan Ning's crazy, angry eyes, he'd come to terms with the fact that it was _**not **_love. It was something far more primal and animalistic. It was like he wanted to _own _the poor girl. When she'd walk by, his chest would heave and he'd stare after her, a twinge of masculine fury in his dark eyes. Ling Tong knew that Gan Ning would never hurt her. He was actually a good guy. But something about the vulnerable little girl brought out something rather dark and primitive from the man. Maybe Gan Ning was just confused about his feelings for her. Maybe the whole deal with the rumours had made him angry but the fact that she was a _girl _just mixed his feelings and thoughts. Yeah, that seemed right.

Gan Ning scoffed bitterly and walked to the stables in search for his horse. Ling Tong went to walk back to his hut but then stopped and turned back around. Staring at Gan Ning, then at the castle and then back at Gan Ning, he groaned and jogged over to the stables to find him mounting his horse.

Gan Ning looked down at Ling Tong with cold eyes and frown.

"You do realize that this is something I have to do alone, right?"

Ling Tong's eyes widened. What did he mean, 'something he had to do alone'? He'd never heard the Wu officer say something like that before. Did he mean finding Mei Yuan..?

Did he want to… **rescue **her… from something?

He looked at the ground with confusion in his eyes. Was he missing something? There was a missing link and Ling Tong couldn't think of what it was.

"What do you mean..?" He murmured under his breath. Gan Ning rolled his eyes and kicked his horse into canter, making it release an unsettled whinny as he took off out of the stables, through the entrance of the kingdom and down the main road in until he nothing but a mere speck in the dark night. Ling Tong stared for a moment before rubbing his face and finding his horse. He wasn't going to let Gan Ning act on such a whim alone. Let realization struck. Lu Meng…

In a hurry, he ran out of the stables.

**Hey! Duck of Nom here! I'm really sorry that this chapter is so long, but I kind of got really into the flash back. ^.^" I sort of lost the will to live at the end of this chapter because I found myself quite attached to the guy in it. But yeah, hope you guys enjoyed! **


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